Coming back for a trial - which server?

I played UO at release, and then again after EQ came out. Havent played in a good 6 years or more, so a lot has changed and I cant be bothered trying to remember my account details given my stuff will be largely worthless. So I'm going on a 14 day trial but I want to know which server to play on? I live in Australia so I played on Pacific and then Oceania when it went live, but I'm more keen on getting a decent server population than a good ping all the time. I'm used to playing on US servers anyway.

So what do you think? Does Oceania have a decent pop? Or would it be better playing on Pacific/Atlantic/Catskills or some such?

Europa has a big RPG Community. If you live in the states you should have a good ping to Europa. I used to live in the states and have always played on Europa since 99.
Its a busy shard as well although not as packed as Atlantic. You can place a 18x18 or tower if you go look for it but you wont find keep or castle spots.
If you decide to check out Europa let me know. I dont know about Cats but I know Chessy is pretty busy as well. I have a char there from way way back and I pop in at luna sometimes just to look around.

A quick goodbye before a private out-of-the-way IC suicide*, funnily enough. I like to at least be able to say "He DIED" as explanation for disappearing.

Oceania's all about RP and community and junk..

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Whoever told you this (the RP bit, I mean) is either a deluded liar, they haven't played for six years, or they count chatting with NPCs as "roleplaying." However, to the OP, if you don't like roleplaying, Oceania is a nice shard. We have a big (relatively speaking) PvP community and a collection of large (relatively speaking) guilds who do the Trammy things; EOB and DP spring to mind. I'm not leaving because the shard sucks, so don't let people saying "The last roleplayer** just left us!" put you off.

It's a cool shard and I recommend it.

*And there was much rejoicing.
** I was not the last roleplayer, either. I was just the last really pushy one.

Edit: Oh dear, sorry, you posted while I was posting. I didn't realise that you liked RP. My apologies!

...actually, confession time - I have roleplayed with NPCs before. Like, by myself. When there was nobody else around. In the wilds of Ilshenar. (And of course somebody came along and caught me monologuing at a paragon hind. I think I told them that I was practicing a Shakespearean soliloquy or something.)

I'm really grabbing the trial so I can see if I can get into playing UO again. Thats a bit of an unknown quantity at the moment so I don't want to lay down much cash for it right now.

If it's just vet rewards I need I do have a ten or eleven year old account. Would be a bit of a pain to try and get access to it again, given I dont have the same email address, credit card etc
Hmm Oceania is sounding a bit too quiet for me, and I got used to playing US shards back when dialup was the norm.. so maybe I'll play Catskills or Europa? I do like RP a lot actually

ps. Thanks sablestorm

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If your account was inactive then it would not have aged, so if it was say a 12 month old account when you quit, chances are it still will be a 12 month old account when you re-activate it.

Thanks for all the replies. I guess I'll just start a character on a few different shards and check out the population/scene at the times I log on.

Definitely wanting to do some RP after a long hiatus from doing any.. EQ, WoW, LOTRO etc dont have anywhere near as much room as UO does for that. Havent seen anything like it since.

q

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I played wow and lotro. I know they have rpg shards ect but as I am not a rpger I had no idea it wasnt that great. I think they say Europa is the biggest for rpg but then it depends on your hours you play since you are in the states and anywhere from 5 to 8 hours diff in time.

As for the advantages of a "vet" account, you get like +5 to the skill cap for each year played (with a max of +20)... so a 4 year vet gets 720 skill points instead of 700. This can be a big difference.
At 6 months, you get +5 to your stat cap.

And of course vet rewards like etheral mounts... though you can buy a Charger from EA for 9.99$.

Hmm yeah true. But I wouldnt have had much rare stuff from then. I think my account was between two and three years old (as an active account). I'm actually in Australia not the States, which makes the Euro primetime even further away from me So maybe I'll check out both, and try to wrack my brain for my old account details while Im at it.

Hmm yeah true. But I wouldnt have had much rare stuff from then. I think my account was between two and three years old (as an active account). I'm actually in Australia not the States, which makes the Euro primetime even further away from me So maybe I'll check out both, and try to wrack my brain for my old account details while Im at it.

Cheers,
q

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Stuff that wasn't rare then is rare now. Practice weapons, moonstones, crystal balls, etc. were common, but they are now collectibles. Take a look at the collectibles forums here at Stratics and you'll find all kinds of things that became rares.

...actually, confession time - I have roleplayed with NPCs before. Like, by myself. When there was nobody else around. In the wilds of Ilshenar. (And of course somebody came along and caught me monologuing at a paragon hind. I think I told them that I was practicing a Shakespearean soliloquy or something.)

Gah, what a fool I am, I was so busy talking about myself that I forgot to talk about the shard! I get like that sometimes.

Because I'd like to see Oceania's population swell dramatically and new players, whether they be you or somebody else, come in - here, in no particular order, are some good points.

1) It doesn't have me on it anymore.

2) Our playerbase is hilariously small, but it's close-knit. It's like a little Australian country town; everybody knows everybody else. Whether this is a good or a bad thing is up to you.

3) There is far less competition, PvE-wise. I've only ever had a kill stolen from me on the first day of an invasion when everybody is crammed into one spot, they're all overexcited, and they haven't yet realised that the loot is worthless. And in Felucca, you'll only see another player once out of every twenty or so visits unless you actively seek them out, which is good for resource-gathering.

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